When the Tampa Bay Rays acquired Ty Johnson in the July 2024 blockbuster that sent Isaac Paredes to the Chicago Cubs, most analysts buried his name under the headlines.
The deal was framed around Paredes’ power bat joining the Cubs, while Tampa Bay added Christopher Morel, a big league contributor, plus a pair of prospects in Hunter Bigge and Ty Johnson, the latter considered a lottery ticket at best.
Well, the lottery numbers are starting to hit.
Johnson has gone from anonymous trade piece to one of the most electric risers in the Rays’ loaded pitching pipeline, and it didn’t take long. After landing in Tampa Bay, the 6-foot-6 right-hander has blossomed into a strikeout machine, a development that is starting to make the Cubs’ front office sweat just a little.
Ty Johnson Blossoms Into Strikeout Machine Since Getting Traded from Cubs
So far in 2025 with Double-A Montgomery, Johnson has thrown 27.1 innings across nine appearances (three starts), and the numbers are loud: 3.62 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 38.5% strikeout rate (third in the Southern League).
With a plus fastball that sits in the mid-to-upper 90s and a mid-80s slider that is proving to be a legitimate putaway pitch, Johnson is not just surviving at Double-A. He’s thriving.
Johnson’s May 19 outing was his best to date: 4.0 shutout innings, one hit, eight strikeouts, no walks. That’s dominance, and it’s becoming a pattern.
Johnson’s rise isn’t coming out of nowhere, exactly. He was a 15th-round pick by the Cubs in 2023 out of Ball State, where he showed flashes of power and athleticism but lacked polish. The raw ingredients were there: size, extension, a live arm. But the Cubs seemingly couldn’t harness it before shipping him off.
Enter Tampa Bay, the undisputed kings of pitcher development.
Rays’ Tweaking of Ty Johnson’s Delivery Could Have Him ‘Rocketing up Prospect Boards’
The Rays tweaked his delivery, shortened his arm path, and emphasized command. The result? A smoother, more repeatable motion, fewer free passes, and more bats missing baseballs.
PitcherList recently called him one of this season’s “undervalued prospects to keep your eye on,” praising his swing-and-miss slider and his “improved ability to attack the strike zone,” suggesting that another offseason of improvements with the Rays staff could have Johnson “rocketing up prospect boards.”
Which may just leave Cubs fans shaking their heads.
Johnson wasn’t supposed to be the headliner in the Rays-Cubs trade. He wasn’t even supposed to be the footnote. But now? He might be the story.
He’s throwing gas, missing bats, and making one of baseball’s smartest front offices look even smarter.
And if he keeps this up, the only thing Cubs fans will be wondering is: how did we let this one get away?